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⚡ C1 Advanced Grammar • AI & Artistic Creativity

🎨 Starting a Sentence with "It"

See how good writers start with a short It and move the long idea to the end.

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How to Use This Lesson

Teacher Guide

Allocate 12 minutes: spend 4 minutes contrasting front-heavy clauses with dummy "it" patterns, then 8 minutes on individual drilling.

Ask learners which version sounds smoother, and why. The answers are checked on screen.

Learner Steps

Study the 4 structural models in the rule matrix, noticing how each pattern creates a smoother reading rhythm.

Work through the 12 progressive exercises below, applying target terms such as authorship, originality, and attribution.

Core Patterns Matrix

Four ways to start with It, or to put it after a verb.

Essential Structures

A neo-brutalist graphic art illustration showing a robotic mechanical hand and a human hand painting on the same canvas

Can synthetic algorithms display genuine artistic inspiration?

1 It + be + adjective/noun phrase + that-clause

Starting with a short It moves a long subject to the end of the sentence.

"It is no surprise that galleries are cautious about pictures made by a program."

2 It + passive verb + adverb + that-clause

A passive verb with an adverb and a that-clause states a common opinion without saying whose it is.

"It is often argued that a painting needs a human story behind it."

3 It + be + adjective + to-infinitive

An adjective such as hard, tempting or unfair can be followed by a to-infinitive, with It at the front for the idea at the end.

"It is tempting to judge every machine-made song by the same standard."

4 find / make / consider + it + adjective + that-clause / to-infinitive

After find, make or consider, it goes after the verb, and the that-clause or to-infinitive comes after the adjective.

"Many poets find it strange that a machine can rhyme so quickly."

Practice Lab

12 Targeted Tasks

Work through the four activity types below to reinforce structure and vocabulary precision.

Type 1 • Structural Recognition Items 1 – 3

1. Select the sentence that starts with It and puts the long idea at the end:

____ Is widely acknowledged that algorithms cannot claim legal authorship of prose. ____ It is widely acknowledged that algorithms cannot claim legal authorship of their generated prose. ____ There is widely acknowledged that algorithms cannot claim legal authorship of generated prose.

2. Which sentence puts the word it in the right place?

____ Curators consider it impossible to measure genuine originality without knowing the creator's intent. ____ Curators consider impossible it to measure genuine originality without knowing the creator's intent. ____ Curators consider that impossible to measure genuine originality without knowing the creator's intent.

3. Select the most natural sentence about copying:

____ It is no coincidence that so many imitations look alike. ____ That so many imitations look alike it is no coincidence. ____ That is no coincidence that so many imitations look alike.

Type 2 • Sentence Transformation Items 4 – 6

4. Rewrite the front-heavy sentence starting with "It cannot...":

"That algorithmic output remains largely derivative cannot be denied."

____ (Type the complete rewritten sentence...)

5. Rewrite this statement using "It is...":

"To resolve complex copyright disputes over synthetic media is exceedingly difficult."

____ (Type the complete rewritten sentence...)

6. Rewrite this sentence starting with "It has...":

"To collaborate with neural networks has become vital for concept designers."

____ (Type the complete rewritten sentence...)

Type 3 • Contextual Gap-Fill Items 7 – 9

7. Complete the statement with the correct form of the hint word:

It is ____ (wide) believed that scraping protected illustrations without consent constitutes digital plagiarism.

8. Supply the required pronoun to complete the dummy object structure:

Legal authorities make ____ (pronoun) clear that transparent attribution must accompany any AI-assisted publication.

9. Form the appropriate adjective complement:

It is ____ (trouble) to see technological novelty mistaken for genuine artistic depth.

Type 4 • Error Detection & Repair Items 10 – 12

10. A digital artist sent this message to a forum. The opening clause is ungrammatical:

"Hey Sam, I tried the new lyrics generator. Is a pity that generative systems lack true poetic inspiration."

Write the corrected 5-word opening phrase:

____ (Type the corrected phrase...)

11. Spot the missing element in this critique of an art competition:

"Our committee finds strange that an algorithm was granted first prize without identifying human authorship."

Type the corrected 3-word verb group (verb + it + adjective):

____ (Type the 3-word phrase...)

12. Identify and fix the faulty dummy pronoun in this critique:

"Check out this generative sculpture. There is undeniable that neural networks challenge our definitions of originality."

Type the single replacement word for the underlined error:

____ (Type the correct pronoun...)

Grammar: Extraposition in AI and Creativity

🎨 Starting a Sentence with "It"

How to Use This Lesson

Core Patterns Matrix

12 Targeted Tasks

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